A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers

This is very much like WALDEN. If you want a fast paced advice book...forget it. This meanders, much like WALDEN, and switches from mundane to profound again and again. A book to savor, not to rush through. Unlike another reader, I had no problem with the reader..he was laid back but that's the kind of book it is. Sound quality was fine at 4.

I have trouble understanding why people download a long book and then blast ( often unfairly as in this case ) the narrator. Samples are provided so you know what you are getting. I like to judge for myself so listened to the sample in spite of a review that had such a "blast."
I liked the sound and got the book. Moral of the story...You would not buy a car without taking a test drive. Don't get a book without listening to the sample and trust your own ears.

I only decided that the reader of "Concord & Merrimack" was not a robot when I listened to his reading of Walden, which is slightly better. Every syllable the same pitch, same tone, same volume, same tempo -- except when a word is apparently unfamiliar when it's sounded out with long pauses between syllables. If indeed the reader is a flesh and blood human it's obvious he has less than no interest in what he's reading.

In addition, the sound quality of the supposedly high-quality file format I chose is execrable. Obviously exported from the lowest possible quality Mp3 or other lossy format.

A horrible experience and one I hope not to repeat!